Agat‘angełos

The Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle brings together the latest research in chronicle studies from a variety of disciplines and scholarly traditions. Chronicles are the history books written and read in educated circles throughout Europe and the Middle East in the Middle Ages. For the modern reader, they are important as sources for the history they tell, but equally they open windows on the preoccupations and self-perceptions of those who tell it. Interest in chronicles has grown steadily in recent decades, and the foundation of a Medieval Chronicle Society in 1999 is indicative of this. Indeed, in many ways the Encyclopedia has been inspired by the emergence of this Society as a focus of the interdisciplinary chronicle community. The Encyclopedia fills an important gap especially for historians, art historians and literary scholars. It is the first reference work on medieval chronicles to attempt this kind of coverage of works from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East over a period of twelve centuries. 2564 entries and 65 illustrations describe individual anonymous chronicles or the historical oeuvre of particular chroniclers, covering the widest possible selection of works written in Latin, English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Norse, Irish, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Syriac, Church Slavonic and other languages. Leading articles give overviews of genres and historiographical traditions, and thematic entries cover particular features of medieval chronicles and such general issues as authorship and patronage, as well as questions of art history. Textual transmission is emphasized, and a comprehensive manuscript index makes a useful contribution to the codicology of chronicles.

Digital Data Collection and Processing in Field and Lab: The Approach of Kinneret Regional Project

The paper showcases the field- and lab-documentation system developed for Kinneret Regional Project, an international archaeological expedition to the Northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Israel) under the auspices of the University of Bern, the University of Helsinki, Leiden University and Wofford College. The core of the data management system is a fully relational, server-based database framework, which also includes time-based and static GIS services, stratigraphic analysis tools and fully indexed document/digital image archives. Data collection in the field is based on mobile, hand-held devices equipped with a custom-tailored stand-alone application. Comprehensive three-dimensional documentation of all finds and findings is achieved by means of total stations and/or high-precision GPS devices. All archaeological information retrieved in the field – including tachymetric data – is synched with the core system on the fly and thus immediately available for further processing in the field lab (within the local network) or for post-excavation analysis at remote institutions (via the WWW). Besides a short demonstration of the main functionalities, the paper also presents some of the key technologies used and illustrates usability aspects of the system’s individual components.

Diagenesis of a light, tight-oil chert reservoir at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary, Sultanate of Oman

The Al Shomou Silicilyte Member (Athel Formation) in the South Oman Salt Basin shares many of the characteristics of a light, tight-oil (LTO) reservoir: it is a prolifi c source rock mature for light oil, it produces light oil from a very tight matrix and reservoir, and hydraulic fracking technology is required to produce the oil. What is intriguing about the Al Shomou Silicilyte, and different from other LTO reservoirs, is its position related to the Precambrian/Cambrian Boundary (PCB) and the fact that it is a ‘laminated chert‘ rather than a shale. In an integrated diagenetic study we applied microstructural analyses (SEM, BSE) combined with state-of-the-art stable isotope and trace element analysis of the silicilyte matrix and fractures. Fluid inclusion microthermometry was applied to record the salinity and minimum trapping temperatures. The microstructural investigations reveal a fi ne lamination of the silicilyte matrix with a mean lamina thickness of ca. 20 μm consisting of predominantly organic matter-rich and fi nely crystalline quartz-rich layers, respectively. Authigenic, micron-sized idiomorphic quartz crystals are the main matrix components of the silicilyte. Other diagenetic phases are pyrite, apatite, dolomite, magnesite and barite cements. Porosity values based on neutron density logs and core plug data indicate porosity in the silicilyte ranges from less than 2% to almost to 40%. The majority of the pore space in the silicilyte is related to (primary) inter-crystalline pores, with locally important oversized secondary pores. Pore casts of the silica matrix show that pores are extremely irregular in three dimensions, and are generally interconnected by a complex web or meshwork of fi ne elongate pore throats. Mercury injection capillary data are in line with the microstructural observations suggesting two populations of pore throats, with an effective average modal diameter of 0.4 μm. The acquired geochemical data support the interpretation that the primary source of the silica is the ambient seawater rather than hydrothermal or biogenic. A maximum temperature of ca. 45°C for the formation of microcrystalline quartz in the silicilyte is good evidence that the lithifi cation and crystallization of quartz occurred in the fi rst 5 Ma after deposition. Several phases of brittle fracturing and mineralization occurred in response to salt tectonics during burial. The sequences of fracture-fi lling mineral phases (dolomite - layered chalcedony – quartz – apatite - magnesite I+II - barite – halite) indicates a complex fl uid evolution after silicilyte lithifi cation. Primary, all-liquid fl uid inclusions in the fracturefi lling quartz are good evidence of growth beginning at low temperatures, i.e. ≤ 50ºC. Continuous precipitation during increasing temperature and burial is documented by primary two-phase fl uid inclusions in quartz cements that show brines at 50°C and fi rst hydrocarbons at ca. 70°C. The absolute timing of each mineral phase can be constrained based on U-Pb geochronometry, and basin modelling. Secondary fl uid inclusions in quartz, magnesite and barite indicate reactivation of the fracture system after peak burial temperature during the major cooling event, i.e. uplift, between 450 and 310 Ma. A number of fi rst-order trends in porosity and reservoir-quality distribution are observed which are strongly related to the diagenetic and fl uid history of the reservoir: the early in-situ generation of hydrocarbons and overpressure development arrests diagenesis and preserves matrix porosity. Chemical compaction by pressure dissolution in the fl ank areas could be a valid hypothesis to explain the porosity variations in the silicilitye slabs resulting in lower porosity and poorer connectivity on the fl anks of the reservoir. Most of the hydrocarbon storage and production comes from intervals characterized by Amthor et al. 114488 preserved micropores, not hydrocarbon storage in a fracture system. The absence of oil expulsion results in present-day high oil saturations. The main diagenetic modifi cations of the silicilyte occurred and were completed relatively early in its history, i.e. before 300 Ma. An instrumental factor for preserving matrix porosity is the diffi culty for a given slab to evacuate all the fl uids (water and hydrocarbons), or in other words, the very good sealing capacity of the salt embedding the slab.

Gallipoli: Myths and Memories in a transnational perspective

The battle of Gallipoli as it is known in Europe and South Asia or the battle of Çannakkale as it is known in modern Turkey was a seminal battle for many nations, not because it was decisive for the course of the war, but because it played a central role in regard to memory of the First World War in many nations. Based on photographic evidence and research by colleagues from many countries this contribution will focus in a transnational perspective on the participation of British, Indian, Australian and New Zealand troops in the campaign and especially on myths and memories on the side of the Entente from 1916 onwards.

“Delendum est Imperium Ottomanorum“: War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and the End of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire’s status as a full member of the international community of civilized states, which was bound by the rules of international law, had been challenged again and again during the formative period of the international law in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. When the First World War began, it was the first global military conflict, in which these rules of international law were put to the test. In the case of the Ottoman Empire quite a few questions were not yet settled, not least because the country was still bound by unequal treaties and because it had never ratified the renewed Hague Rules of Land Warfare of 1907, which it had only signed under reservations. Against this background the contribution will therefore focus on the debate amongst legal scholars on violations of the laws of war (and humanity) in regard to the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Evidence for an Ancestral Association of Human Coronavirus 229E with Bats.

UNLABELLED We previously showed that close relatives of human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) exist in African bats. The small sample and limited genomic characterizations have prevented further analyses so far. Here, we tested 2,087 fecal specimens from 11 bat species sampled in Ghana for HCoV-229E-related viruses by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Only hipposiderid bats tested positive. To compare the genetic diversity of bat viruses and HCoV-229E, we tested historical isolates and diagnostic specimens sampled globally over 10 years. Bat viruses were 5- and 6-fold more diversified than HCoV-229E in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and spike genes. In phylogenetic analyses, HCoV-229E strains were monophyletic and not intermixed with animal viruses. Bat viruses formed three large clades in close and more distant sister relationships. A recently described 229E-related alpaca virus occupied an intermediate phylogenetic position between bat and human viruses. According to taxonomic criteria, human, alpaca, and bat viruses form a single CoV species showing evidence for multiple recombination events. HCoV-229E and the alpaca virus showed a major deletion in the spike S1 region compared to all bat viruses. Analyses of four full genomes from 229E-related bat CoVs revealed an eighth open reading frame (ORF8) located at the genomic 3' end. ORF8 also existed in the 229E-related alpaca virus. Reanalysis of HCoV-229E sequences showed a conserved transcription regulatory sequence preceding remnants of this ORF, suggesting its loss after acquisition of a 229E-related CoV by humans. These data suggested an evolutionary origin of 229E-related CoVs in hipposiderid bats, hypothetically with camelids as intermediate hosts preceding the establishment of HCoV-229E. IMPORTANCE The ancestral origins of major human coronaviruses (HCoVs) likely involve bat hosts. Here, we provide conclusive genetic evidence for an evolutionary origin of the common cold virus HCoV-229E in hipposiderid bats by analyzing a large sample of African bats and characterizing several bat viruses on a full-genome level. Our evolutionary analyses show that animal and human viruses are genetically closely related, can exchange genetic material, and form a single viral species. We show that the putative host switches leading to the formation of HCoV-229E were accompanied by major genomic changes, including deletions in the viral spike glycoprotein gene and loss of an open reading frame. We reanalyze a previously described genetically related alpaca virus and discuss the role of camelids as potential intermediate hosts between bat and human viruses. The evolutionary history of HCoV-229E likely shares important characteristics with that of the recently emerged highly pathogenic Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.

Ottoman Tax Registers (Tahrir Defterleri)

The Ottoman government obtained current information on the empire's sources of revenue through periodic registers called tahrir defterleri. These documents include detailed information on tax-paying subjects and taxable resources, making it possible to study the economic and social history of the Middle East and Eastern Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Although the use of these documents have been typically limited to the construction of local histories, adopting a more optimistic attitude toward their potential and using appropriate sampling procedures can greatly increase their contribution to historical scholarship. They can be used in comprehensive quantitative studies and in addressing questions of broader historical significance or larger social scientific relevance.

Nd-Sr isotopes in fossil fish debris from IODP Exp302

Strontium and neodymium radiogenic isotope ratios in early to middle Eocene fossil fish debris (ichthyoliths) from Lomonosov Ridge (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 302) help constrain water mass compositions in the Eocene Arctic Ocean between 55 and 45 Ma. The inferred paleodepositional setting was a shallow, offshore marine to marginal marine environment with limited connections to surrounding ocean basins. The new data demonstrate that sources of Nd and Sr in fish debris were distinct from each other, consistent with a salinity-stratified water column above Lomonosov Ridge in the Eocene. The 87Sr/86Sr values of ichthyoliths (0.7079 - 0.7087) are more radiogenic than Eocene seawater, requiring brackish to fresh water conditions in the environment where fish metabolized Sr. The 87Sr/86Sr variations probably record changes in the overall balance of river Sr flux to the Eocene Arctic Ocean between 55 and 45 Ma and are used here to reconstruct surface water salinity values. The eNd values of ichthyoliths vary between -5.7 and -7.8, compatible with periodic (or intermittent) supply of Nd to Eocene Arctic intermediate water (AIW) from adjacent seas. Although the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and North Atlantic Ocean were the most likely sources of Eocene AIW Nd, input from the Tethys Sea (via the Turgay Strait in early Eocene time) and the North Pacific Ocean (via a proto-Bering Strait) also contributed.

Financial Cooperation in East Asia

This paper addresses the rationale for financial cooperation in East Asia. It begins by giving a brief review of developments after the Asian currency crisis, and argues that enhancing regional financial cooperation both quantitatively and qualitatively will require: (1) upgrading surveillance capabilities in the region, and (2) creating a clear division of labor between regional institutions and the IMF. It also mentions the issue of membership and the background forces that have led to the duplication of similar forums in East Asia. Although the concern over crisis management is the central issue in East Asian financial cooperation, other issues such as exchange rate policy coordination and fostering regional capital markets are discussed as well.